The Layers is the debut novel from Stephen Reynolds, exploring how our
identity is shaped by our relationships. The anonymous protagonist
recounts his life story, showing us how the people he has loved - his
parents, sister, grandfather, best friend, and partner - have all helped
to form who he is. He is a different version of himself with each loved
one, versions which combine to make up a whole person. However, as the
book goes on and the protagonist starts to lose grip of people around
him, he begins to wonder who he really is without them. Are the various
versions of himself lost with those who knew them, or can he remain
whole in spite of their loss? Struggling with overwhelming grief and its
consequential identity crisis, he teeters on the edge of fading away
completely. Can he find a way to pull those lost pieces of himself back
together, or is he forever lost to the void?
Stephen started writing The Layers after losing someone close to him
and considering whether a version of himself had also been lost. "I
think The Layers is important because it sets out to de-normalise
loss," he says. "We'll all experience grief and death in our lifetimes.
The Layers shouts about that. It seeks to confront it but offers no
suggestion of peace through doing so." But the novel isn't all doom and
gloom. It highlights the joy and beauty of our most important
relationships, and the imprints they leave behind even after they are
gone. It is a life-affirming look at how we are reborn through our
losses to truly appreciate the connections we have had and those which
remain. It is a love story dedicated to all of our quirks, our
eccentricities, our nuances, our layers.
